![\"\"](\"https:\/\/equipes.lps.u-psud.fr\/sobio\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/11\/DNAfoldsketch.jpeg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n- \n
- DNA toroids and bundles<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Chromatin & nucleosomes<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- DNA condensates for gene delivery<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nPHYSICAL VIROLOGY<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Viruses combine remarkable structural and functional properties unmatched by present-day synthetic systems. Despite a huge body of work dedicated to the molecular biology of viral life cycles, the ability of viruses to self-assemble still defies theoretical understanding. There are currently no physical models accounting reliably for the dynamic pathways along which the hundreds of molecular building blocks making up a virus fit into the final structure with a pinpoint accuracy. Our goal is therefore to better understand the dynamical processes underlying the assembly and self-organization phenomena in viruses by exploiting the experimental and theoretical concepts used in soft matter and statistical physics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/equipes.lps.u-psud.fr\/sobio\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/09\/drenckhan_illustration.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n- \n
- Antivirals<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Viral self-assembly and disassembly<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Virus-like particles<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- The pressurized bacteriophage chromosome<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nBIOMOLECULAR CONDENSATES & ARTIFICIAL CELLS<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Compartmentalization is a fundamental principle of cellular organization, enabling the spatial and functional segregation of biochemical processes. Within cells, this is achieved not only by membrane-bound organelles but also by dynamic, membrane-less structures such as biomolecular condensates formed through liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS). These condensates – composed mostly of proteins and nucleic acids – play crucial roles in regulating cellular functions, from gene expression to stress responses. In parallel, biomimetic vesicles, such as liposomes and polymersomes, offer synthetic models to mimic cellular environments and bring us closer to the design of artificial cells. Understanding the self-organization rules underlying these processes requires integrative strategies bridging biophysical experiments, computational modeling and theory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/equipes.lps.u-psud.fr\/sobio\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/02\/condensates.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n- \n
- Passive and active liquid-liquid phase separation<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Biomimetic vesicles<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nEXPERIMENTAL APPROACHES<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
We develop the methods necessary :<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- to follow the dynamics of our systems (time-resolved SAXS<\/a>, light scattering, fluorescence microscopy), including in microfluidic devices<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- to image individual molecules and nano-objects in solution (cryo electron microscopy<\/a>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- to image cells and bulk materials by cryo electron microscopy of vitreous sections (CEMOVIS<\/a>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
We also take advantage of large-scale facilities to explore soft matter at the nanoscale :<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Soleil synchrotron (Gif-sur-Yvette) : small-angle x-ray scattering on the SWING beamline.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facilities (ESRF, Grenoble) : small-angle x-ray scattering on the ID02 beamline.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Institute Laue Langevin (ILL, Grenoble) : small-angle neutron scattering on the D22 beamline.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CONDENSED DNA & CHROMATIN In vivo, in viral capsid, bacterial and eukaryotic chromosomes, DNA is always packaged into compact forms that vary in space and time, with cell cycle, DNA …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3209,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3001","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/equipes.lps.u-psud.fr\/sobio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/equipes.lps.u-psud.fr\/sobio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/equipes.lps.u-psud.fr\/sobio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/equipes.lps.u-psud.fr\/sobio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/equipes.lps.u-psud.fr\/sobio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3001"}],"version-history":[{"count":43,"href":"https:\/\/equipes.lps.u-psud.fr\/sobio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3001\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4141,"href":"https:\/\/equipes.lps.u-psud.fr\/sobio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3001\/revisions\/4141"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/equipes.lps.u-psud.fr\/sobio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/equipes.lps.u-psud.fr\/sobio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- to image individual molecules and nano-objects in solution (cryo electron microscopy<\/a>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Biomimetic vesicles<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
- Viral self-assembly and disassembly<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Chromatin & nucleosomes<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n